President Donald Trump proved his love of sports runs deep during a surprise phone call to The Pat McAfee Show on ESPN Tuesday afternoon, when he pontificated on several topics ranging from college football payrolls to his dislike of the NFL kickoff rules.
The president also paid respect to veterans many times during the show, even going so far as to give multiple “oorahs” in honor of the Marines and Veterans Day. The show was filmed in Parris Island, South Carolina, where the Marine Corps Recruit Depot is located.
Trump claimed that college football costs could balloon as athletes receive compensation beyond scholarships.
“Well, it is a very serious problem, because even football, when they give quarterbacks $12 [million], $13 [million], $14 million … and all of a sudden you’re going to see it’s going to be out of control,” Trump warned. “And even rich colleges are going to go bust because you’re not going to be able to do this.”
“And you know, they had the old way, they gave scholarships, and they did lots of good things,” he continued. “But there’s, there could be some form of payments. But when they start bidding up the costs — look, the NFL and all of you know all teams, they have caps. You don’t really have that in college sports.”
The president warned again that “all of a sudden, you’re going to have like, NFL-type payrolls,” which colleges cannot afford.
On the subject of the new NFL kickoff rule, McAfee, a former punter for the Indianapolis Colts, feigned offense. “I love sports, but I do have to say, and I’ll probably get myself in a little trouble with this, I hate the kickoff,” Trump said.
“Oh, come on, Mr. President,” McAfee yelled.
“I think it’s so terrible,” Trump said. “I think it’s so demeaning, and I think it hurts the game. It hurts the pageantry. I’ve told that to [NFL Commissioner] Roger Goodell.”
Trump briefly discussed attending the Washington Commanders and Detroit Lions game in Landover, Maryland, on Sunday, when he sat in the commentary booth for the Fox Sports broadcast and was met with some boos from the crowd. Air Force One conducted a flyover during the game as well.
“It was a little bit of a blowout game, in all fairness, with the Commanders, as opposed to the Redskins,” he said about the team’s old name, which has been the source of controversy for years. “What happened to the Redskins, by the way? But it was the game. Wasn’t the greatest game.”
McAfee also asked Trump, an avid golf fan, whether the U.S. would ever win a Ryder Cup going forward after the team lost to the European team on home soil earlier this year.
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“The other team, they really sank a lot of putts,” Trump explained. “You’re looking and they sink in 30-footer, 40-footer, 70-footer, you know, just one after another. And it was interesting. It looked like it was over.”
Trump also touted the fact that the World Cup and the Olympics would be held in the U.S. during his second term.